Brachos 27
“Forget that she sometimes wore a diamond crown and that I’d
flown to London on the presidential jet; we were just two tired ladies
oppressed by our shoes. I then did what’s instinctive to me anytime I feel
connected to a new person, which is to express my feelings outwardly. . . I
couldn’t have known it in the moment, but I was committing what would be deemed
an epic faux pas.”
A decade or so ago, President Obama and the First Lady paid
a visit to the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Upon meeting Her Majesty, Mrs. Obama threw her arms around the monarch
in a welcoming embrace. The tabloids
were horrified. In Britain, it is well
known that one may not extend one’s hand to a member of the royal household
unless they do so, let alone touch them in any more intimate a manner. Indeed, protocols and norms dictate how the
Queen may be addressed and one must wait for her to initiate a greeting. The initial response must be ‘Your Majesty,’
and subsequently, she should be called, ‘Ma’am’.
Rav Yehuda quoted Rav: A person should never pray
alongside the rabbi, nor behind the rabbi.
And it was taught: Rabbi Eliezer says, one who prays behind the rabbi,
or one who initiates a greeting to the rabbi, or one who returns a greeting to the
rabbi irreverently, or one who challenges the rabbi’s authority, or one who
misquotes the rabbi, causes the Divine to depart from Israel.
Jewish tradition accords honour to various categories of
leaders. The Prophet Jeremiah (2:8)
speaks of priests, shepherds (kings), prophets, and Torah teachers, a clear
example of the Torah’s traditional belief in the separation of powers. No human being is infallible and leadership
of the community is never invested in one group or individual. Nevertheless, all of these holy leaders must
be treated with the utmost respect and reverence, for the Divine presence has
been manifested in them. What makes our
tradition so special is that while many of these leadership categories are
either inherited or Divinely-inspired, Torah leadership is attainable for every
individual, regardless of their family status or upbringing.
How must one act towards Torah leaders? “A person should never pray alongside his
rabbi,” which is why most synagogues have a dedicated space for the rabbi. The actual meaning of the Gemara is that, in
recognition of the Torah accomplishments of the rabbi, he is not just ‘one of
the guys.’ Rashi explains that praying
alongside is an expression connoting the treatment of the rabbi as an equal. Throughout all interactions, one must behave
with appropriate reverence.
At the same time, however, one may not “pray behind his
rabbi”. Tosfos suggests that praying
behind the rabbi might offer the appearance that one is bowing down to the
rabbi. The meaning of these cautionary
words is that, while one must have due reverence for the rabbi, it must not
reach a level of deification. Only G-d is
Divine. The rabbi is a human being,
capable of making mistakes.
Why does Rabbi Eliezer limit our exchanges of greetings with
the rabbi? The Pnei Yehoshua offers a
reason more profound than mere comparisons to royal protocol. In Hebrew a greeting is ‘Shalom’, meaning
‘peace,’ and it is also one of the names of Hashem. The Talmud teaches that “Torah scholars
increase peace in the world.” Through
the power of Torah, one is able to draw down Divine energy into this physical
world. In fact, that’s the reason why in
most synagogues, the rabbi faces the congregation. While the congregation look into their
siddurim (prayer-books), he looks at his “siddur” – the holy and cherished
people sitting before him in the pews – to construct his prayers around their needs. His role is to focus on each individual and
pray for their shalom, their welfare, health, and prosperity in every aspect of
their lives.
For someone less versed in Torah, it would be hubris to
initiate an offering of ‘shalom’ to a practitioner of shalom. It would be like offering medical advice to a
doctor. Once one has received the blessing of shalom,
however, one may respond with appropriate reverence, says Rabbi Eliezer.
Rabbi Eliezer’s latter two issues deal with the flow of
‘shalom’ that one would not want to interrupt.
It’s one thing to respectfully ask a question of the rabbi. It’s quite another to challenge his
authority. He is the conduit for shalom
in the world. He works hard to maintain
the constant flow of Divine energy through the veins of the universe. Who would want to disrupt that flow in their
lives? Who would want the Divine
presence to depart from their world?
Likewise, misquoting the shalom professional is as perilous
as misquoting other professionals. To
continue our earlier analogy, let’s say the doctor told you to give your child
three pills a day. Thinking you know
better, you tell your spouse that the doctor said ten pills. Your conceit, G-d forbid, could have
dangerous consequences for your child’s health.
In a similar manner, one must be very careful to follow the spiritual
advice of the rabbi, to ensure that the Divine energy flows unabated.
There was a time in history when our tradition was referred
to as Rabbinic Judaism. We are the heirs
to those Jews who recognized the centrality of the role of our rabbis in
Judaism. They are the arbiters of
Halacha (law), they are the conveyors of the Torah from generation to
generation, and they are the ‘peacemakers’ who strive to increase shalom in the
world. May you always be a supporter,
and never a detractor, and may you merit a never-ending flow of Divine energy,
translating into blessings of health, prosperity, and eternal nachas!
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